P.P. Arnold - The First Lady of Immediate (1967)

"The First Cut Is the Deepest" by P.P. Arnold


Although "The First Cut Is the Deepest" is one of Cat Stevens's best and widely recognized songs, he didn't record it first. Two others got the chance to record it before him. The Koobas performed a mediocre psychedelic version of the song and P. P. Arnold performed a soul version, both earlier in 1967. Interestingly, Stevens never released his version as a single because he believed that P.P. Arnold's take on his song was its definitive performance.

P.P. (Patricia) Arnold began her career in music around 1964 when she and her friends Maxine Smith and Gloria Scott tried out for and won the job of the Ikettes, a backup singing group, for the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. By 1966, the popularity of Ike and Tina faltered in the United States, though it boomed in England. It was during a fateful tour of the UK that she impressed prominent concert-goers Mick Jagger and Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham with her dynamic and powerful voice. With both convinced that she had the potential to be a hit maker, they signed her to Oldham's newly christened recording label, Immediate Records. Arnold quit the Ikettes and remained in London.

Arnold's first big hit came with her second single, her cover and original recording of "The First Cut Is the Deepest". It reached the Top 20 and overshadowed another version (by The Koobas) that also came out about that time. She followed this success with another: single "The Time Has Come, a song written for her by Paul Korda. In an attempt to keep Arnold in the spotlight, Oldham had Arnold perform with other popular Immediate artists like The Small Faces and Rod Stewart. Her singles and a few other filler songs were recorded and packaged into her first album The First Lady of Immediate (a reference to her status as the first signed female artist to the Immediate label). The album didn't share the same success as her hit singles.

Here is the discography surrounding P.P. Arnold's debut album:

Everything's Gonna Be Alright (1967 single)
The First Cut Is the Deepest (1967 single)
The Time Has Come (1967 single)
(If You Think You're) Groovy (1967 single)
The First Lady of Immediate

"(If You Think You're) Groovy" by P.P. Arnold


"Though It Hurts Me Badly" by P.P. Arnold


If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, please give a shout. I'm open to whatever as long as the artists are historically related in some way and go in an artist's chronological order.

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